The reality of this, of course, hasn't stopped a lot of Americans
from complaining that taxes are way too high and, therefore, that
government spending must be cut.

But the problem says Ben White, the chief economic correspondent
at Politico, is that Americans also like the
benefits that they get from the government. And if the country is
going to have any chance of ever balancing its budget, taxes are
going to have to go up.

(Most economists agree that spending growth will also have to be
reined in, and Republicans are right that most of the growth is
coming from social programs like Medicare and Medicaid. Defense
spending has also ballooned in recent years and needs to be
trimmed).

The Republicans' plan in recent years, White says, has been to
"starve the beast": force Congress to cut government spending by
keeping taxes low and creating huge budget deficits. The budget
deficits have materialized, but the spending cuts
haven't--because Americans like the benefits they get from
government spending.

So there's simply no way to avoid increasing taxes.

The Republicans have conceded that, White says. And a deal on the
fiscal cliff will ultimately include some tax increases. It will
also likely include some spending cuts.

Importantly, the tax increases being contemplated still won't
make the U.S. a high-tax country relative to many other developed
countries. That's something that any critic of tax increases
needs to keep in mind.